Rodeo reclaims 800 Strait tickets from brokers

They will be made available to fans who were shut out

Updated 11:03 pm, Thursday, February 7, 2013

Here's a little good news for George Strait fans who tried to buy tickets to the country singer's March 17 concert that will close the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo's three-week run: Rodeo staff members have identified about 800 Strait tickets that apparent ticket brokers tried to purchase with the intention of reselling them at hefty prices, said Leroy Shafer, the rodeo's chief operating officer.

Those reclaimed tickets will now be made available to would-be concert goers who sent emails to the rodeo office when they learned tickets sold out within a couple of minutes of going on sale Jan. 12, Shafer said.

"They took the time to write to us and say, 'Here's my complaint,' " he said. "We're going to start on the top dates and see if we can make some of those people happy."

Since each purchaser is limited to four tickets, the supply will run out after staffers go through about 200 emails, he said.

Brokers who buy up groups of tickets for expensive resale are a perennial problem that the rodeo has battled for years, said Shafer, who has worked for the organization nearly 40 years.

One website Thursday was offering tickets for Strait's concert at prices up to $8,100.

"We are a target because we intentionally price tickets below the market," Shafer said. "We try to be sure we are affordable family entertainment for as much of Houston as we can be."

For example, he said, sixth-level seats for the Bruno Mars concert are $19.

"That's far below the face value of Bruno Mars if he came in here for any other concert," Shafer said.

Through its routine use of computer filters to monitor ticket purchases, the rodeo has identified more than 5,000 tickets that it believes were ordered by brokers, Shafer said.

As of Thursday morning, 5,607 tickets had been canceled for violating the rodeo's ticket-purchasing policy, he said.

Most of the purchasers of those tickets were notified no later than Feb. 4 that the tickets would be canceled.

"We allow them to appeal their case," he said. "Honestly, very few are calling us because if they're brokers, they know they can't make a case to us. We wait a few days to make sure we're not canceling a legitimate order."

The cancelations did not affect any tickets that were actually printed and sold, he said.

This year, the rodeo has canceled for renewal or denied first purchase to nine season-ticket holders because the rodeo identified them as brokers, Shafer said.

Shafer cautioned the public to buy rodeo tickets directly from the rodeo or Ticketmaster to avoid problems.